Basis Turntables: Worth it or Ripoff?

if I was ever to buy another turntable, it would be a Basis.

Funny as I found this thread for some reason.  I know it's old, but it's still relevant.  I sold my 1400 to Tomic.  I miss it e very day.  It was the best TT under 5000 that I auditioned.  Yes, ti was that good as he states and that's the discontinued 1400.  I have MS and have an issue getting up every 20 minutes to clean and change a record.  

I have The Memory Player with every update for digital.  It's the best digital server, streamer that I have ever listened to and I went this route because I can't do analog for the most part.  I now am thinking about getting a simple all in one TT to get to hear my albums that I can't find in digital.  I will MISS that Basis 1400 greatly.  I've heard most of the TT offerings in the Basis price ranges (new not used TT's).  Basis and the Linn LP12 and one of the VPI tables just sound incredible in the under 6k or so range.  Basis may be the best value table that I've heard.

ctsooner,

Each of us is different. There are 8 types of MS. Mine is Primary Progressive. Diagnosed 13 Sept. 2017, Confirmed on 18 Sept. 2017 at University of Chicago.

Yes, I too have issues with getting up and flipping the record to the next side, Finding the next record, cleaning it, getting it to my TTs, cleaning stylus, cueing the tonearm, etc,etc. I am determined to hold on, as long as I can. My room is dedicated, cleaning area is dedicated. I need to be extra careful carrying the record to my TTs. I manage it. The room and everything is setup to help me with every difficult thing in the process. Since, I have become homebound, It is my main enjoyment in life. I also have great WAF.

In my younger years, I was an Airborne / Ranger type guy. Surrender, was not to be found in our training or the manual. There is No Cure. The disease will continue to progress. I will fight to the last. My Best to you.

LP12 owner for 28 years.I could no longer deal with the suspension. Just touching the cueing lever would set the TT in motion. I have resolved this with two unsuspended TTs, A Kuzma Stabi S and a modded Technics SL1200G modded with a Triplanar tonearm.

I get to enjoy my last passion available to me, with a bit of extra work. My 28 year old CDP, bit the dust about 4-5 weeks ago. I have 83 CDs, 4 are test or burn in CDs. No great loss at this time.

The drug that I get by infusion, is supposed to prolong my life and reduce some of the complications. Time will tell.

I will continue with vinyl as long as I can. Digital, just does not cut it for me. Digital will be a last resort when that time comes. Also, having MS does not make me immune from, Cancer, Heart attach or anything else lurking out there.

Hang in there ctsooner,  My Best to you and family.

As others have said Basis makes great turntables. I am not a fan of their tonearms as they are unipivots which are inherently unstable.
The problem with Basis Turntables is SOTA and to a lesser extent SME.
My best friend has a Basis Debut with a Graham tonearm which I have mounted cartridges in several times. Both SOTA and SME tables perform just as well and in the case of the SOTA are much less expensive and IMHO better looking. I am just not a fan of the techno plastic look. Some would argue that SME tables are the best of all and they are if you want to mount a long tonearm as both SOTA and Basis will only take short ones. The SME can also be configured to handle very heavy arms like the Kuzma 4 Point 11 and 14 if you get the 20/12 or the 30/12. I do not include the Kuzma Stabi M in the mix because it is not a suspended turntable in the classic sense. It is an isolated turntable. It will not handle low frequency excursions like foot falls. 

nkonor and ctsooner, I recently retired from a career as a medical scientist (in the field of virology).  Your testimonies reminded me that at about the time I was in med school, nearly 50 years ago, the concept of "autoimmune" disease was described, and there was great optimism that diseases like MS, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc, would soon be understood and made cureable, as opposed to "treatable".  I am very sad that this endpoint has not yet been reached, even after so many years have passed and even as a result of a massive increase in our understanding of the immune system.  My heart goes out to both of you guys, and your posts should make the rest of us who are in good health realize that we are very lucky and that our arguments about audio gear are really quite trivial, even silly, by comparison to what is really important in life.  Carry on.